In a wired local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), two or more devices communicate over a wired physical medium (e.g., a wired connection such as copper, fiber, etc.). For example, the devices may include devices in an Ethernet LAN or WAN operating according to IEEE 802.3 protocol.
FIG. 1 shows an example network 100 including devices 104 and 108. The devices 104 and 108 communicate (i.e., transmit and receive data) via a wired connection 112. For example only, the devices 104 and 108 may implement a physical coding sublayer (PCS) configured to operate according to 40GBASE-R and/or 100GBASE-R technologies. Accordingly, the wired connection 112 is capable of communicating data at 40 Gb and/or 100 Gb rates.
The network 100 may include a sideband connection 116. The sideband connection 116 corresponds to a wired connection separate from the wired connection 112. The devices 104 and 108 use the sideband connection 116 to communicate sideband data (e.g., management data, control data, etc.). A bandwidth of the sideband connection 116 may be significantly less than a bandwidth of the wired connection 112.